Drafting roll support for textile machine



p 1988 J. R. WHITEHURST 3,401.,4-30

DRAFTING ROLL SUPPORT FOR TEXTILE MACHINE Filed Oct. 23, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. --r Joe EWHITEHURST 29 ATTORNEYS Sept. 17, 1968 J. R. WHITEHURST DRAFTING ROLL SUPPORT FO R TEXTILE MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 23, 1965 INVENTOR. Joe )2. WHITEHURST ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,401,430 DRAFTING ROLL SUPPORT FOR TEXTILE MACHINE Joe R. Whitehurst, Bessemer City, N.C., assignor to Ideal Industries, Inc., Bessemer City, N.C., a corporation of North Carolina Filed Oct. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 503,737 6 Claims. (Cl. 19294) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Slide block for supporting pairs of upper and lower drafting rolls wherein the legs of the slide blocks are formed of resilient material to permit outward deflection thereof during a malfunction such as a lap-up condition occurring on upper drafting rolls, and wherein the slide blocks containing vibration dampening material supporting the drafting rolls.

This invention relates generally to an improved bearing support for the spaced apart sets of cooperating upper and lower fluted drafting rolls of a textile machine, such as a drawing frame.

In the conventional drawing frame, the sets of upper and lower drafting rolls were supported in substantially U-shaped metal slide blocks all of which, except for those supporting the front rolls, are in turn adjustably secured to the metal slide stands which are mounted On the frame of the drawing frame. The bearings on the ends of the lower driven drafting rolls are supported in the lower portions of the slide blocks and the bearings on the ends of the upper drafting rolls are maintained in proper alignment above the bearings of the lower rolls by the upper portions of the side legs of the slide blocks. With the metal-to-metal contact of the drafting roll bearings against the slide blocks, vibrations are easily transmitted between the drafting rolls and the slide blocks as well as to the slide stands on which the slide blocks are supported. This vibration increases the amount of wear on the inner surfaces of the slide blocks.

In some cases, the wear on the slide blocks at opposite ends of a drafting roll is not even, so that one end of the drafting roll is positioned ahead of the other end and the proper alignment of the cooperating upper and lower drafting rolls is not maintained. When one end of one of the rolls is ahead of the other end, one side of the web of fibers being drafted is slack while the other side is tight. The fibers on the slack side will double and roll while the fibers on the tight side are excessively drafted and produce a fuzzy and ragged selvage.

In addition to the foregoing disadvantages, the side legs of the conventional slide blocks are subject to breakage and they may cause damage to the drafting rolls, due to their rigid unyielding nature. Under abnormal operating conditions, such as when a lap-up occurs on an upper drafting roll and the draw frame is not equipped with a stop motion for detecting this condition or the stop motion is not in operative order, the lap of fibers will build up to the point that it engages and applies pressure against the next upper drafting roll and the corresponding leg of its slide block as well as against the distal leg of the slide block supporting the roll on which the lap-up occurs. As the lap-up increases in size, the legs of one or both of the slide blocks will break and many times a su fficient lateral pressure is applied to the drafting rolls that they may be bent. In any event, the rolls must be removed and inspected to determine if damage has oc- 3,401,430 Patented Sept. 17, 1968 curred and this, as well as replacement of broken slide blocks, are time consuming and costly operations.

With the foregoing in mind, it is a main object of the present invention to provide an improved slide block support for drafting rolls which overcomes the disadvantages of the conventional slide blocks, discussed above.

To this end, portions of the present slide block are formed of plastic to overcome the vibration problem and thereby reduce the wear normally encountered on the inner surface of the legs of the slide block so that the upper and lower drafting rolls are maintained in proper alignment with the legs of the present slide block being formed of resilient material to overcome the problem of breakage of the side legs and to prevent damage to the drafting rolls when a lap-up occurs.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary isometric view showing the improved bearing support slide blocks of the present invention supported on a fragmentary portion of the slide stand and supporting the bearing means of upper and lower drafting rolls;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken substantially along line 2-2 in FIGURE 1 and showing the adjacent ends of adjacent upper drafting rolls supported in the upper end of the slide block;

FIGURE 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken substantially along line 3-3 in FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 3 but being taken substantially along line 44 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a schematic view of a 4 over 4 drafting system taken substantially along line 55 of FIGURE 2 and illustrating outward deflection of the legs of the slide blocks upon a lap-up condition; and

FIGURE 6 is a view similar to FIGURE 5 but illustrating the slide blocks at the opposite end of the drafting rolls from those shown in FIGURE 5.

The improved bearing support slide block is broadly indicated at 10 in FIGURE 1 (and 10a in FIGURE 5) and is shown positioned on an intermediate slide stand 11 of a double delivery drawing frame. However, it is to be understood that the present improved slide block could also be utilized with a single delivery type draw frame. As is well known, each drafting section of a draw frame includes a plurality of spaced apart sets of cooperating upper and lower drafting rolls and the staple length fibers shown as sliver S, are fed between the upper and lower drafting rolls. The sets of drafting rolls are normally positioned closed together (as illustrated in FIG. URES 5 and 6 as the web of fibers moves to the front of the draw frame and through the drafting zone defined by the sets of drafting rolls.

Portions of one set of upper and lower rolls 12, 13 in one drafting section and portions of an adjacent set of upper and lower rolls 12', 13' of an adjacent drafting section are shown in FIGURE 2. In the double delivery drawing frame, a slide block 10 is positioned on the intermediate side stand 11 and at each set of drafting rolls. as well as on each end slide stand (not shown).

Opposed end of the upper drafting rolls 12, 12' are provided with bearing means which includes spacer collars 15, 15' that have anti-friction roller bearing therein, and end sleeves 16, 16' which are suitably connected to the collars 15, 15. The outer ends of the lower drafting rolls 13, 13' are provided with bearing means (not shown) and their common ends are provided with bearing means which includes spacer collars 17, 17 that have anti-friction roller bearings therein, and a bearing sleeve roller neck 18 which is suitably connected at opposite ends to the collars 17, 17. The collars 15, 17 serve to accurately space the fluted upper and lower rolls 12, 13 to accurately control the depth of engagement of the teeth of the fluted rolls.

As best shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, the slide block is substantially U-shaped in cross-section. The slide block 10 includes a lower medial base portion including base block 20 and a support block 21. The base block 20 is preferably formed of steel, and has upwardly extending opposed side plates or legs 22 suitably secured at their lower portions to opposite sides thereof by means of flush type rivets 24 which extend through the base block 20.

The lower support block 21 is supported on the metal base block 20 and is of the same width and length to fit between the resilient side plates 22. The support block 21 is molded of any suitable plastic material, such as acetal resin of the type currently sold under the name Delrin, a trademark of E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. The upper portion of the support block 21 is concave to receive and support the lower peripheral portion of the roller neck sleeve 18 therein. Endwise movement of the support block 21 is prevented by means of an upstanding dowel 27 (FIGURE 2) which is fixed at its lower end in the metal base block 20 and its upper end fits into a bore in the lower surface of the plastic support block 21.

A threaded bore 28 extends upwardly and through the base block 20 in alignment with a threaded bore 28a is formed in the support block 21 (FIGURE 2). The slide block 10 is supported in longitudinal adjusted position along the slide stand 11 by means of a screw 29, which extends up through the elongate slot in the slide stand 11 and is threadably embedded in the threaded bores 28, 28a. As shown in FIGURE 3, the upper end of the screw 29 terminates in spaced relationship below the roller neck sleeve 18 so that the plastic support block 21 dampens vibrations normally transmitted between the drafting rolls and the slide stand 11.

A plastic hold-down block 30 is positioned between the opposed legs 22 and has a concave lower surface which engages the upper peripheral surface of the roller neck sleeve 18 (FIGURE 3). The hold-down block 30 is held in position in engagement with the upper peripheral portion of the sleeve 18 by a pair of hollow roll pins 32 (FIG- URE 2), which are supported at opposite ends in holes in the side legs 22 and the medial portions of which extend through suitable holes drilled through the upper portion of the hold-down block 30 (FIGURE 2). It is preferred that the plastic support block 21 and the plastic hold-down block 30 be of the same shape and size so that they can both be produced by a single mold and so that they may be interchangeable.

The opposed legs 22 are formed of resilient material, such as stainless steel, so that opposite side portions of the end sleeve 16 are engaged thereby (FIGURE 4). Thus, the end sleeve 16 on the upper drafting roll 12 is resiliently maintained in proper alignment above the roller neck sleeve 18 of the lower drafting roll 13.

When a sufliciently large lap-up L of the fibers occurs on the upper drafting roll 12 that the lap engages the next succeeding upper drafting roll as illustrated in FIGURES 5 and 6, lateral pressure is applied to the drafting rolls tend to separate them by a greater than normal distance. This lateral separating pressure applies outward pressure on the forward leg of the slide block of the next succeeding upper drafting roll while applying outward pressure on the rearward leg of the slide block of the upper drafting roll on which the lap-up occurs. Since the legs are resilient the upper portion of the rearward side leg 22 will be bent or flexed outwardly, as.

shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 3 and solid lines in 4 FIGURES 5 and 6, as the upper drafting roll on which the lap-up occurs is forced rearwardly. As further illustrated in FIGURES 5 and 6, a similar flexing would normally take place on the forward leg of the slide block supporting the next succeeding upper drafting roll.

Thus, a lap-up on the upper drafting roll will not break the legs of slide block 10, and after the lap-up is removed, the flexed side leg 22 will spring back to its normal vertical position. In the event the side leg 22 is bent so far that it will not spring back to its normal vertical position, the slide block 10 can be removed and the side leg can then be bent back to the normal position. In either case, the resilient nature of the legs 22 prevents a lap-up from bending the drafting rolls.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and description sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

I claim:

1. In combination with a plurality of pairs of upper and lower drafting rolls of a textile machine, slide blocks each comprising a base and a pair of spaced apart opposed upstanding legs connected to the base and guidingly receiving opposite end portions of a respective pair of said drafting rolls therebetween, and an adjacent corresponding pair of said slide blocks at each end of said drafting rolls having both of their legs formed of a material of sufiicient resiliency to permit outward deflection thereof upon a lateral force being applied to corresponding upper drafting rolls forwardly of rearwardly thereof, incident to an abnormal condition such as by a lap-up occurring thereon.

2. Improved bearing support means for a plurality of pairs of cooperating upper and lower drafting rolls of a draw frame including bearing means on each end of said drafting rolls, and a slide stand below the ends of said drafting rolls, said improved bearing support means comprising (a) a plurality of slide blocks, each being substantially U-shaped and having a lower surface supported on said slide stand and including a base and opposed side legs extending upwardly therefrom and engaging opposite sides of the bearing means of the cooperating upper and lower drafting rolls,

(h) each of said bases including portions formed of vibration dampening material and supporting the lower portion of the bearing means of a lower drafting roll therein to dampen vibrations normally transmitted between said pair of drafting rolls and said slide stand, and

(c) the opposed side legs of each of said slide blocks being formed of a material of suflicient resiliency to permit outward deflection thereof upon a lateral force being applied to corresponding upper drafting rolls forwardly or rearwardly thereof, incident to an abnormal condition such as by a lap-up occurring thereon.

3. Improved bearing support means according to claim 2 wherein each of said bases includes a metal base block and wherein said vibration dampening material includes a plastic support block supported on said metal base block, each of said metal base blocks and plastic support blocks having alined threaded bores and a screw extending into the threaded bores and through said slide stand to secure said slide blocks on said slide stand.

4. Improved bearing support means according to claim 2 including a hold-down block positioned between the opposed legs of each of said slide blocks, each hold-down block being formed of plastic material and having a lower concave surface engaging the upper portion of said bearmeans connected at opposite ends to said opposed side 5 6 legs to maintain the lower surface of said hold-down block References Cited in engagement with said bearing means of said lower UNITED STATES PATENTS drafting roll.

5. Improved bearing support means according to claim 14 5/1962 Cqtchett 19'294 4 wherein said plastic hold-down block and said plastic 5 3216065 11/1965 Gneb 19294 support block are of the same dimensions and shape so that they may be interchanged. FOREIGN PATENTS 1,252,064 12/1960 France.

6. Improved bearing support means according to claim 4 wherein said hold-down means comprises at least one hollow roll pin with opposite ends penetrating said op- 10 MERVIN STEIN Pr'mary Examiner posed side legs. DORSEY NEWTON, Assistant Examiner. 

